


Morning Ritual

by biotickaidan



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 04:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4248837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biotickaidan/pseuds/biotickaidan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For theathenanebula on tumblr, who wanted Shepard and Kaidan’s morning routine and for me to include Kaidan wearing only a towel. You should know that I almost called it “Sleepy Smiles and Lumberjack Beards.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Ritual

**i.**  
Kaidan stirred awake and rubbed the remnants of sleep from his eyes. He pulled Shepard close, holding her tight, and nuzzled his face into her neck. She giggled and turned around in his arms to face him. He hadn’t meant to wake her up, but she didn’t seem to mind. “You need to shave,” she told him. “You have a lumberjack beard.” She giggled again, and for a second he had to remind himself this moment was real. They were really here, the reapers had been destroyed, and he got to wake up with her every morning and see what she looked like before she put on makeup and faced the world. He got to hear her laugh and see her sleepy smiles.

            He chuckled. “No, I don’t. It’s only been three days since I shaved.”

            “Well, it still tickles.”

He purposefully rubbed his jaw against hers, feeling his stubble scratch against her skin.

            “Stop that!” She shook her head, but then stroked his cheek with her thumb and traced his lips and finally kissed him, long and slow and gentle. “Do we have to get out of bed?”

            “At some point,” he said.

            “Later?”

            “I thought you wanted me to shave.”

            “You can shave later.” She pulled him on top of her and gave him a sly smile.

 **ii.**  
Later, they were breathless, panting, and Kaidan thought he never wanted to be anywhere but in her arms. His limbs felt boneless, as if he’d never be able to get up from the bed. Not that he wanted to. Except they _should_ shower, and he _should_ shave, and they still hadn’t eaten breakfast.

            “Well…” Shepard trailed off, laughing, and he felt the vibrations where his ear was pressed against her chest to listen to her heartbeat.

            “You started it.”

            “You didn’t object.” Kaidan could tell she was smiling.

He chuckled. “Of course not.”

            “Your beard really _does_ tickle though.”

            “Oh.”

            “Yeah, I’m definitely making you shave before you do that again.”

            “ _Oh_.” He propped himself up on his elbow to look down at her, seeing her wide smile and her bright green eyes and messy bedhead, made even messier by what they’d just done. “Deal.” He gave her his own sly smile before reluctantly getting out of bed.

 **iii.**  
After they’d showered, they both stayed in the bathroom together, standing in front of the mirror and finishing their morning rituals. He _did_ need to shave. Sometimes he couldn’t believe how fast his stubble came in, as if he had a permanent five o’clock shadow no matter how hard he tried. And it was much worse now that he’d let it grow out for several days. But Kaidan supposed that was one of the luxuries of not having official duties anymore. He could let it grow out if he wanted to, though apparently Shepard wouldn’t approve.

            As he leaned over the sink with only a towel slung around his hips, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his naked shoulders, her fingers tracing over his abdomen. “You know, if you distract me again, I might cut myself, and I doubt you’d like to explain that at the hospital.”

            Shepard laughed. “We wouldn’t need to go to the hospital. I’d use medigel and patch you up myself.” She smiled. “But I’ll behave.”

            Kaidan caught her eye in the mirror. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He’d told her once that she made him the luckiest man alive, and it was even truer now.


End file.
